YOUR SHOW - Unity Party Chairman Bill Hammons shared what was on his mind about the burden of getting third party candidates listed on the ballot.

Hello. My name's Bill Hammons. I'm the Chairman of the Unity Party of America, which has been officially recognized here in Colorado since 2008, after I successfully petitioned onto the General Election ballot as a Unity Party Congressional candidate with over a thousand voter signatures. If you support common sense proposals like balanced budget amendments, check the "Unity" affiliation box the next time you fill out a voter registration form.

I'm speaking to you today because we urgently need your help. There's a bill before the Colorado General Assembly, which convenes this week, that makes it easier for unaffiliated candidates to get onto the ballot. We think it's a good bill, and we'd like it amended and expanded to make it easier for affiliated candidates to get onto the ballot.

Our candidates Mike Nelson for the 4th Congressional District, Levi Hancock for Governor, and Ray Roman for US Senate, along with hundreds of other Colorado voters, have switched their voter affiliations to the Unity Party. The Unity Party is the only Qualified Political Organization in Colorado ; QPO status is the first step towards recognition of the Unity Party as a major party. Under current Colorado Election Law, Unity Party candidates, and only Unity Party candidates, must be affiliated as voters with their Party for at least one year before receiving our nomination and the chance to appear on the November ballot next to the word "Unity."

That one-year requirement is not required of other parties' candidates, and is only required of us because we haven't asked that the law be changed for us as well. Now we're asking. Our candidates have changed their voter affiliations to "Unity," most of them last summer, and they deserve the chance to appear on the November ballot next to the word "Unity." I ask you, my fellow citizens of Colorado , to help me persuade the General Assembly to expand Representative Kathleen Curry's bill on behalf of present and future start-up political parties.

We are not asking that any candidates who might be nominated at our April convention to be placed directly onto the General Election ballot. Just as I had to petition my fellow citizens at grocery stores, shopping malls, and farmers' markets, Mike, Levi, Ray, and others will still need to ask hundreds of their fellow citizens for their support and signatures.

And so I ask you for your support, right here and right now. Lend your voice today so that candidate nomination rules are the same for all of Colorado 's formally recognized political parties. And this isn't just about the Unity Party. If you're a Tea Party supporter, for example, you might be interested in a party which supports things like a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment, but you might be just as interested in ensuring that your own party has the right to field future candidates.

Visit our website unityparty.us and send an email to mail@unityparty.us saying that candidate nomination rules should be the same for all of Colorado's parties. Be sure to include your mailing address, and we'll forward your message to your state senator and representative to show them that the grassroots support which has allowed our party to expand into 23 other states is still strong here in Colorado.